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Zoe Lucker

Footballers' Wives and HolbyBlue actress Zoe Lucker was born in Yorkshire, England in 1974.

Zoe Lucker grew up in Huddersfield. Her parents were teachers, who later set up a stained-glass business.

Her parents' lives are in stark contrast to the role that made Zoe Lucker famous. Whilst they spent over a year in voluntary service in Zambia, Tanya Turner the character Zoe plays in ITV1's cult show Footballers' Wives was a selfish and conniving 'bad girl'.

When asked by The Guardian whom she you most admired, Zoe replied: "My parents: they are very liberal, with great attitudes towards life."

Lucker studied at Arden School of Theatre in Manchester where she played Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons. After drama school she got her first job with the Hull Truck company, where she was paid £250 a week.

She moved to London and appeared in TV ads, corporate videos, as well as small roles in Holby City, Trial And Retribution and Coronation Street.

In 2001, after being out of work for eight months and working as a receptionist she got her big break when she was cast as Tanya Turner in Footballers' Wives.

This fine article in The Daily Telegraph has an expressive way of describing Zoe Lucker's character, Tanya Turner:

"It takes a certain down-to-earth no-nonsense rigour to decide that a character who shags her husband to death after spiking his whisky with Viagra, seduces the football captain on a private jet, uses her fingernails as cocaine shovels and pulls a chunk of hair out of the head of the bisexual wife of her lover in a catfight in the players enclosure can be taken entirely seriously."

Shed Productions, who produce Footballers' Wives, have also managed to insert the Tanya Turner character into another of their shows, Bad Girls.

On the personal side Zoe Lucker, who describes her worst fault as being her sensitivity, was sad about critical remarks by Footballers' Wives co-star John Forgeham in a tabloid.

In 2007 the BBC announced that Zoe Lucker was to play DI Keenan's
estranged wife, Kate, in HolbyBlue. Zoe revealed her favourite moment on set was with Kacey Ainsworth, when she got a fit of the giggles and couldn't stop laughing.

On 2 September 2008, Zoe Lucker, who was engaged to James Herbert, gave birth to 8lb 12oz Lilly Alabama.

In the autumn of 2008 Zoe Lucker became the presenter of makeover show Love The Place You're In.

In series 7 of Strictly Come Dancing, Zoe Lucker partnered James Jordan.

They did well but were unlucky to find themselves in week 7 in a dance-off against Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna and were eliminated.

On 4 June 2010 she made her first appearance as Vanessa Gold in EastEnders.

In June 2012, it was announced that Zoe Lucker had joined the cast of BBC One drama Waterloo Road as Carol Barry, the head of a Liverpudlian criminal family.